Racks for truck beds to extend the effective height thereof have been known for many years. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,230 to Langdon shows such a rack. U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,225 to Selzer shows numerous rack arrangements for use in various hauling jobs. U.S. Pat. No. 2,993,727 to Zewiske shows a folding rack having an extended position useful for hauling livestock in the like and a folded position useful for hauling other types of cargo. U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,864 shows a collapsible rack for a truck bed.
As can be appreciated from the foregoing examples of the prior art, there have been many different approaches to the problem of how to extend the effective height of a truck bed. Despite all of the activity in this field, there still exists a need for folding racks which are simple to use, economical to construct and dependable in use.
One problem with prior art racks is that while they are needed to stabilize a high load, the rack itself often gets in the way of the actual loading process. Consequently, there is also a need for a folding rack having one or more assemblies which can easily and quickly be folded down for loading and easily and quickly folded up after the load is on the truck bed.